Collapsible crate.



4instan STATES APATENT OFFICE..

GEORGE e] ROHRSSEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR To ivI'ANnwAn-LANGE RIScUIT COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OFMISSOURI.

`To alla/litem, t '1i/mty concern: j

Ee it known that I, GEORGE G. RonRssnnj, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Collapsible Crates, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, such yas will enable others skilled in theart'to which-it appertains to make and use the same, reference bero inghad tethe accompanying drawin s, formin part of this speciiication,inwhic `igure l is a perspective view of a crate constructed inaccordance with my invention, showing two cans arranged inside of the t5 crate. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the crate with the cansremoved, and Fig. 3 is a detail pers ective view showin the'construction o the cross-pieces whic carry the cushions or pads.

j zo This invention relates to shipping-crates,

-and particularly to crates that are used'for shipping boxes or cans inwhich crackers, cakes, and similar articles are contained.

One object of m invention is to rovide an indestructible col a siblecrate W ch is so constructed that .t e corners of the boxes will beprotected, and thus prevent them from being bent or damaged. Anotherobject of my ,invention is to' provide a novel form of locking devicefor holding the two movable Sections of the crate lin operativeposition, and still another ob- 'ect of my invention is to provide acrate aving means for preventing the boxes 3 5 therein fromV rattling 0rjarring and also for protecting the `@dass panels with which the oxesare provided.

Referring to the drawings, which represent the preferred form oi myinvention, 1 'desig- Ao nates the corner-posts of the crate, whichpreferably consistof pieces of light-weight angle-iron. Each movablesection -of the crate is formed by two corner-posts, atransversely-extending angle-iron 2, connected to the inner sides of theupper ends of the posts,

and two cross-pieces 3, connected to the.

outer faces of said posts.` The two Sections of the crate 'are connectedtogether by angleirons 4, which are pivotally connected to the 5o innerfaces of the lower endsof the corner'- osts; thereby enabling the crateto be colapsed so that it can be returned in knock- Specication ofLetters Patent.

Application filed August l, 1906. Serial No. 328,739.

ooLLAPslBLE CRATE.

Patented aan. 29, 190'?.`

down form to the manufacturer who used it for shippling the boxes orcans of merchandise to t e retail dealer.

. F ig. l shows the crate used in connection with two rectangular-Sha edcans 5, and referring to said figure it will Abe seen that the cornersof the can fit inside of the angle-irons 1,' which constitute thecorner-posts, and 6o also the angle-irons 4, which are connected to thelower ends of said posts, so that thev corners of the can are completelyprotected. The,`angleirons 2 at the upper ends of the cornerfpostsengage the top of the can, and for securing the two sections the cratetogether -I have provided a cross-piece 6, consisting of a metal barwhich-is hinged to the uptper angle-iron 2 of one section of the cratean projects through a slot 7 in the 7o vertical leg of the an le-iron 2of the other Section of the crate. he end of the bar is provided with anotch 8, which engagesthe edge of the slot 7 in the angle-iron 2, andsaid bar is retained in locked position by means of a dog 9, which ispivotally con?. nected to the vertical leg of the angle-iron 2 andprovided with a notched end whichy bears against one edge ofthe -bar 6yand forces its notch intojengagement with the 8o edge of the slot 7.Preferably the dog is provided witha hole 10, located in alinernent witha hole 11 in the verticalleg of the angle 2 when said dog is inoperative position, soV that a sealing-wire 12 can be passed through 85these holes to prevent the locking-do from being swung up toreleasethe'bar 6, t ereby` preventing the boxes froml being removed isurreptitiously fromthe crate.

For preventing the boxes from rattling or 9o jarring, and also forrotectin'g the glass panels 13 in the boxes, Ip have rovided the crossmembers 3 on their inner aces with yielding pads or cushions 14, the adsor cushionson one section of the crate bearing against the glass panelsof the boxes and those on the other section of the crate bearinfyagainst the rear walls ofthe boxesfso that the boxes are held securelyin position by yielding pressure.

Iprefer to construct the cross-pieces V3 as :'I'oe;`

shown in Fig. 3, each cross-piece consisting of a plate 3a and acoperating plate 3b, having its edge portions bent around the plate 3,with a piece of yielding material interposed 'be used repeatedly, and asthe corners of the between said plates amlprojeetinpr through 'l anopeninf in the plate 3l to'constitute the pad or eusl lion 14.

A crate that is constructed in this manner is practicallyindestructible, as it is made en tirely from inetallic members, so thatit can boxes are completely surrounded by the angle-irons 1 and 4 theywill not be bent or damaged during transportation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new7 and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1.A collapsible crate consisting` ol four pieces of angle-iron whichconstitute the corner-posts of the crate7 cross-pieces connect--A ingpairs of the corner-posts together to orrn two sections7 cushions onsome or' said crosspieces, two pieces of angle-iron pivotally connectedto the inner faces of the lower ends of' the corner-posts for connectin.the two sections o the crate together, a ar connected by a hinge to theupper end of'one section of the crate and adapted to engage the othersection of the crate, and a pivotally-mounted dog for locking said harin position; substantial-lx' as described.

2. A collepsihe crate, consisting of two sections which are pivotallyfastened at their lower ends to ci)nnectin-l.)ars7 means at the upperends of" the sections for locking them together, each section of thecrate consisting of two angle-iron corner-posts connected together attheir upper and lower ends by pieces of angle-iron, and cross membersfastened to said corner-posts.fmd consisting of two metallic platesfastened together with a piece. of yielding materiel interposed betweensame and projecting through an opening in one plate; substantially asdescribed.

In testimon)v whereof I hereunto aliix my signature, in the presence oftwo Witnesses, this 27th day of July, 1906.

GEORGE G. ROHRSSEN.

Witnesses:

WELLS ILACHURoHf COBA BADGER.

